Folder attachment for sewing machines



March 31, 1942. R; J. S AILER 2,278,043

I FOLDER ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filec,May 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 31, 1942. R ,*J. ISAILVER 2,278,043

FOLDER ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed May 2, 1940 2 sh ets-sheet 2 Z] Swiler Patented Mar. 31, 1942 FOLDER ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Rudolph J. Sailer, Townley, N. J., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 2, 1940, Serial No. 332,892

6 Claims. (01. 112-138) This invention relates to new and useful improvements'in folders for sewing machines, and more particularly to folders which are capable of guiding and directing a longitudinally folded strip of fabric in .a direction at right angles to the line of feed and inverting said strip as it is led to the stitching mechanism.

An object of the invention is to provide a folder of the above character which is so constructed that the capacity of the folder may be varied in order that strips of different widths can be folded and the marginal edges thereof properly directed to the stitching mechanism,

Another object of the present invention is' to provide a folder of the above character comprising essentially two sections which are relatively adjustable along a line parallel with the stripinverting edges of the folder.

Further advantages attained by the present invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a multiple needle sewing machine provided with my improved folder.

Fig. 2 is a left-hand end elevational view of the folder and its base-plate with the work-supporting apron in section.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the folder away to illustrate the guide-arms which control the direction of movement of the inner U-shaped section during adjustment. 7

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the receiving end of the folder. 7

Figs. 6 and 7, 8 and 9, 10 and 11, 12 and 13, 14 and 15 are front and right-hand end views, respectively, of each of the component elements comprising the folder.

The present improvement is shown applied to the bed I of a sewing machine having a worksupport 2, a throat-plate 3, and a presser foot 4 carried at the lower end of the usual presser-bar 5. My improved folder is mounted upon a supporting means which is constructed substantially in accordance with the disclosure in my prior 1:

U. S. Patent No. 1,937,096, issued Nov. 28, 1933. The supporting means comprises a bracket 6 pivotally secured by the shouldered screw 1 to the bed I for swinging movement in a horizontal plane. Pivotally secured to the bracket 6 by the screw 8 for limited movement in a vertical plane is an arm 9 having fulcrumed upon its free end the extended portion I0 of a base-plate II. The arm 9 is mounted for limited vertical movement on the screw 8 so that the delivery end of the folder, later to be described, can be elevated or lowered relative to the surface of the work-support 2, and to effect a careful adjustment of the delivery end of the folder there is provided an adjusting screw I2 threaded into the arm 9 and prevented from moving endwise during turning thereof by a flange I3 which is received between the upstanding ears I4 and I5 integral with the bracket 6. The clamping screw I6 locks the arm 9 in adjusted position.

i The extended portion II) of the base-plate II is fulcrumed upon the shouldered pivot-stud I'I threaded into the arm 9, so that only the folder need be swung into retracted position when it is desired to thread the loopers. Disposed beneath the head of the pivot-stud I1 is a dished springwasher I8 which frictionally maintains the folder in operative or retracted position. The operative position of the folder is determined by a depending stop I9 integral with the extended portion III of the base-plate I I, which stop is adapted to engage one side of the arm 9. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the folder is provided with a lateral flange 20 which is secured upon the base-plate II by two clamping screws 2| passing through elongated apertures 22 in the lateral flange 2'0 and threaded into the base-plate II. Through the medium of the screws 2| and the apertures 22 the folder can be adjusted to a limited extent transversely of the line of seam-formation.

In its preferred embodiment, my improved folder comprises an outer stationary section 23 and an inner movable section 24 defining between them a U-shaped strip-guiding passageway 25. The outer section 23 preferably consists of three separate elements 26, 21 and 28 disclosed in detail in Figs. 14 and 15, 6 and '7, l2 and 13, respectively.

Element 28 is-U-shaped and'has soldered along 1 one edge thereof the inturned marginal portion 1 29 of the element 21, and along the other edge section 23 of the folder, when assembled, com

prises a U-shaped shell 26 having inturned walls 21 and 28 spaced from said shell 26 to provide a fabric passageway 25.

Cooperating with the stationary section 23 of the folder is a relatively movable section 24 which is shown in its preferred form in Figs. 10 and 11. This section is also U-shaped and terminates at one end in inclined strip-inverting edges 31 cut at the same angle as the strip-inverting edges 35 and 36 of the stationary section 23. Secured to the inner section 24 is the usual curved guiding wall 38 for the reception of the fabric strip after it is reversed, as is well known in this art. Each of the limbs of the U-shaped inner section 24 is preferably formed with a pair of guide-arms 39 and 40, which are arranged parallel to the strip-inverting edges of the folder. As clearly shown in Fig. the limbs of the U- shaped inner section 24, adjacent the end-portions thereof, engage and slidingly move upon the free end-portions of the inturned walls 21 and 28 of the stationary outer section 23, whereby means is provided for supporting the inner section 24 upon the stationary outer section 23. The lower pair 39 of guide-arms, see Fig. 5, extend through the apertures 33 provided in the inclined wall 3! of the element 21 and the upper pair 40 of the guide-arms extend through the apertures 34 in the inclined wall 32 of the element 28. The inner ends of these guide-arms are received in guideways 4| and 42 defined by the struck-up portions 43 and 44 on the elements 2! and 23 of the outer section 23. The guide-arms 39 and 40 sliding in the guideways 4| and 42 during the shifting of the inner section 24 relative to the outer section 23 to vary the capacity of the fabric passageway 25, maintain the strip-inverting edges of the inner and outer sections in register at all times and provide means for directly and positively connecting the inturned walls 2'! and 28 and the inner section 24.

To eifect a relative shifting of the two sections of the folder, there is provided an adjusting thumb-screw 45 threaded into a suitable frame or extension 46 secured to the inner movable section 24, the thumb-screw 45 being formed with a shoulder 41 and a flange 48 and having between the shoulder and flange a reduced portion 49 adapted to be received in an open-ended slot 59 formed in one end-portion of a spacer or abutment-member 5!. The spacer 5| is preferably soldered along its opposite edges to the elements 21 and 23 of the outer section 23, maintaining the elements 21 and 28 separated and providing an abutment against which the thumbscrew 45 reacts. When it is desired to vary the capacity of the folder, it is only necessary to turn the thumb-screw 45 in the required direction, and the turning of the thumb-screw causes the inner movable section 24 to move relative to the stationary outer section 23 along the axes of the guide-arms 39 and 40. Inasmuch as the axes of the guide-arms are all parallel to the stripinverting edges of the folder, the initial inclination of the strip-inverting edges is not affected during adjustment. It is obvious that since the guide-arms are inclined, the inner movable section 24 during its adjustment has a slight endwise displacement normal to the line of seamformation, and to allow for this endwise movement the slot 50 is elongated.

It will be understood from the above description that I have invented an improved folder for binding the marginal edge of a body-material, which folder has smooth strip-inverting edges maintained at a uniform inclination throughout the entire range of adjustment of folder, thereby providing a fabric passageway devoid of sharpened edges or corners which might snag and impair the binding strip being directed to the stitching mechanism.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what I claim herein is:

1. A folder attachment for sewing machines comprising a stationary outer work-guiding section having inturned walls spaced from said outer section to provide a strip-guiding passageway and terminating at their delivery ends in inclined strip-inverting edges, a movable inner section. formed at its delivery end with inclined strip-inverting edges in alinement with the stripinverting edges of said outer section, means supporting said inner section on the inturned walls of said outer section, means directly and positively connecting the inturned walls and the inner section for movement of said inner section along a straight line parallel with said inclined strip-inverting edges, and adjusting means interconnecting said inner and outer sections for effecting a relative shifting of said sections.

2. A folder attachment for sewing machines comprising a stationary outer section and a relatively movable inner section defining a U-shaped strip-guiding passageway terminating in 00- operati'ng inclined strip-inverting edges, guidearms provided on one of said sections and arranged parallel to said strip-inverting edges, guideways provided on the other of said sections adapted for the reception of said guide-arms, and. an adjusting screw interconnecting said inner and outer sections for eifecting a relative shifting of said sections along the axes of said guide-arms.

3. A folder attachment for sewing machines comprising a stationary outer section and a relatively movable inner section defining a U-shaped strip-guiding passageway terminating in cooperating inclined strip-inverting edges, guide-arms integral with said inner section and arranged parallel to said strip-inverting edges, guideways provided on the outer section for the reception of said guide-arms, and adjusting means interconnecting said inner and outer sections for effecting a relative shifting of said sections along the axes of said guide-arms.

4. A folder attachment for sewing machines comprising a stationary outer work-guiding section having inturned walls spaced from said outer section to provide a strip-guiding passageway and terminating at their delivery ends in inclined strip-inverting edges, a. movable inner section formed at its delivery end with inclined strip-inverting edges in register with the stripinverting edges of said outer section, guide-arms formed on said movable inner section and adapted to be adjustably received in guideways provided in the inturned walls of said outer section, said guide-arms and guideways being disposed parallel to said strip-inverting edges, and an adjusting screw interconnecting said inner and outer sections for effecting a relative shifting of said sections along the axes of said guidearms to vary the capacity of said strip-guiding passageway.

5. A folder attachment for sewing machines comprising a stationary outer work-guiding section having inturned walls spaced from said outer section to provide a strip-guiding passageway and terminating at their delivery ends in inclined strip-inverting edges, a movable U-shaped inner section complemental to the inner edges of said inturned walls and formed at its delivery end with inclined strip-inverting edges in register with the strip-inverting edges of said outer section, guide-arms formed on said movable inner section and adapted to be adjustably received in guideways provided in the inturned walls of said outer section, said guide-arms and guideways being disposed parallel to said strip-inverting edges, a frame secured to said inner section, and an adjusting screw journaled in said outer section and threaded into said frame for effecting a relative shifting of said inner and outer sections along the axes of said guide-arms to vary the capacity of the strip-guiding passageway.

6. A folder attachment for sewing machines comprising a stationary U-shaped outer workguiding section having inturned walls spaced from said outer section to provide a strip-guiding passageway and terminating at their delivery ends in inclined strip-inverting edges, a movable U shaped inner section complemental to the inner edges of said inturned walls and formed at its delivery end with inclined strip-inverting edges in register with the strip-inverting edges of said outer section, guide-arms formed on one of said sections and adapted to be adjustably received in guideways provided in the other of said sections, said guide-arms and guideways being disposed parallel to said strip-inverting edges, an abutment-member secured on said stationary U-shaped outer section and having formed therein an elongated aperture, and an adjusting screw threaded at one end into said inner section and at its other end extending through said elongated aperture and bearing against said abutment-member thereby providing means for efiecting a relative shifting of said inner and outer sections along the axes of said guide-arms to vary the capacity of the stripguiding passageway.

RUDOLPH J. SAILER. 

